Dolly Parton Cameos You Totally Forgot About

Dolly Parton was almost as famous for being herself as she was for any of her actual professions. The amazing life of Dolly Parton spanned 80 years and took her from a rural childhood in Tennessee to then becoming a world-renowned singer, actress, philanthropist, businesswoman, and general delight. Understandably, many in Hollywood reacted to Dolly Parton’s death after the news broke of her passing in August 2026. She was a celebrated artist, but throughout Parton’s life, she also accumulated a handful of acting credits from starring in television series and movies. Some of her most beloved roles include “9 to 5” and “Steel Magnolias.” She could be serious and dramatic or sweet and funny. The roles were even better when she got to sing.

However, some of Parton’s best appearances occurred when she was playing the role she knew best –herself. Parton appeared in projects across many genres as a fictionalized version of herself in what mostly feel like organic and accurate representations of who she was. Yes, even when she was animated. “I want to be a star, a universal star, I would like to be a superstar,” she once told Barbara Walters in a 1977 interview. “In order to be a superstar, you can’t be just a superstar in one area. That means you have to appeal to the majority of people, and that’s what I’m trying to do.” Here are the Dolly Parton cameos you probably forgot about and should absolutely revisit.

Dolly Parton proved that even in animated form she could be amazingly charming. In the 1980s, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore had their own animated series called “Alvin & the Chipmunks.” During one episode, Alvin is very excited for the debut of Parton’s latest album. While at the record store, Alvin decides to enter a contest to meet Parton. Although it is only open to people born in Nashville, Alvin enters and wins.

After travelling to Nashville, Alvin starts to feel guilty for lying on the application. When he confesses to lying and backs out of the concert, Parton forgives him and has the chipmunks play the concert with her alongside the second-place winner. It was a moment that showed off Dolly Parton’s unbreakable spirit, where she just wanted everyone to feel included and have a good time. As it is an old animated series, the plot doesn’t extend much beyond that, but Parton’s warm personality still shone through while greeting cartoon rodents.

Dolly Parton fit right in with the ladies on “Designing Women.” Of all the hit ’80s sitcoms that still hold up today, “Designing Women” ranks among the highest. The show centered on a group of women in the South who ran a successful interior design company. Parton, also a powerful Southern businesswoman, seemed to be an obvious, albeit brief, addition to the show.

In the 1990 episode, Charlene, played by comedian Jean Smart, dreams she meets Parton. Meeting in a white, misty dreamland, Parton tells Charlene she is similar to a guardian angel but more like a “guardian movie star.” The two women bond over being from the South, blonde, and having similar physical features. In this episode, Charlene is heavily pregnant and about to give birth to her first child. Parton confirms to Charlene that she’s having a little girl, but Charlene confesses the birth is a mix of excitement and sadness, as many of her family have died. Parton assures Charlene that all of her deceased family members will live on in spirit with the new baby. It’s a beautifully sweet moment that seems to sum up how Parton helped people through times of trouble, even if she wasn’t really there.

Somehow, the obscure 1990s sitcom “Babes” scored a Dolly Parton cameo during its first and only season. “Babes” followed the lives of three sisters, Charlene (Wendie Jo Sperber), Darlene (Susan Peretz), and Marlene (Lesley Boone) Gilbert as they navigated work and romance. Working as a makeup artist, Charlene lands a job doing Dolly Parton’s makeup. Most of the episode revolves around Charlene’s quote about Parton possibly not being as nice as she seems being leaked to a gossip newspaper. Parton wants to know exactly who told the paper she wasn’t nice.

The cameo is one of Dolly’s longer ones, as she is in most of the second half of the episode. Parton has a lie detector machine — which she named “Jolene” — to test Charlene. Although Parton isn’t operating or hooked up to the machine, it responds to her verbal commands. After Charlene’s sisters figure out the nosy neighbor is the gossip paper leak, Parton and Charlene mend any misunderstandings between the two of them. When Parton performs “Why’d You Come In Here Looking Like That,” the sisters join her wearing Dolly Parton costumes. It’s cute, silly, and dripping with ’90s vibes.

“The Beverly Hillbillies” may have seemed like a perfect cameo for Dolly Parton, as she came from rural poverty and made it big. Parton called her life a “fairytale,” which could also describe “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Unlike Parton, who made it rich from talent and hard work, the Beverly Hillbillies got rich with dumb luck. The film, based on a 1960s sitcom, followed the Clampett family from the Ozark Mountains to Beverly Hills after the patriarch, Jed, accidentally strikes it rich when he finds oil on the family property. During a birthday party scene for Jed, Parton comes out singing “Happy Birthday” while adding the line “they spent a fortune on me for you.” After Jed proposes to his girlfriend, Parton also sings her song “If You Ain’t Got Love.” It is classic Dolly Parton captured for the big screen.

Interestingly, in a 1978 interview, famed journalist Barbara Walters asked if she should consider Parton a “hillbilly.” The term “hillbilly” often refers to someone who is from a rural mountain area and is uneducated. With sweet humor, Parton said, “If you had have, it would have been something very natural, but I would have probably kicked your shins or something.” Continuing, Parton clarified, “We were very proud people, people with a lot of class. It was country class, but it was a great deal of class. And most of my people were not that educated, but they are very, very intelligent. Good common sense, horse sense, we called it.”

Although she once played during an NFL Thanksgiving halftime show in a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader outfit, Dolly Parton never performed in a Super Bowl halftime show — at least in real life. In a 1999 episode of “The Simpsons,” Homer, Bart, and a bunch of guys from Springfield go to the Super Bowl after Homer befriends a travel agent voiced by comedian Fred Willard. However, in typical Simpsons fashion, things go sideways. After arriving via party bus, the group realizes they have counterfeit tickets.

When they try to sneak in, they are quickly caught and detained in a cell. Lucky for them, Dolly Parton walks by before she is set to perform at halftime, and Parton happened to be friends with the travel agent. Even in the animated series, Parton was never without her signature style. Being the kind woman she was, Parton’s character helps them escape from the depths of the stadium by breaking the cell lock with her makeup remover. After carefully avoiding an awkward question from Krusty the Clown, Parton flies off wearing a jet backpack. It’s too bad fans never got to see the real Dolly Parton fly into the Super Bowl halftime show. The closest the singer got to participating in the championship festivities is when Parton re-recorded one of her biggest hits for a Super Bowl commercial.

Dolly Parton’s guest appearance on “Bette” confirmed that the only thing better than one diva singing is two divas signing. “Bette” starred legendary singer, actress, and comedian Bette Midler as a fictionalized version of herself. The character Bette has no last name and is a legendary performer with a fanbase that adores her, much like the real Midler. Although the series only lasted for one season before being cancelled, it still had some memorable moments. 

On the Halloween special, Dolly Parton guest starred on “Bette” and the two powerhouses film a special together. Parton plays her normal sweet self, always handing out compliments and watches. Bette, on the other hand, has a one-sided rivalry with Parton, always trying to one-up her. While the two sang “Islands In The Sun,” Bette’s mermaid costume antics overpowered the pair’s vocals. However, at the end of the episode, Parton and Midler show it was all in good fun and sing a lovely duet. The performances on “Bette” showed how both women had copious amounts of talent as singers and comedians. In a 2026 tribute post to Parton on Instagram, Midler wrote, “She had a voice of pure gold and a heart to match.”

Only Dolly Parton could add more glamour to the “Miss Congeniality” movies. Parton appeared in the second film, “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous,” for a great comedic cameo. FBI Agent Gracie Hart, fresh off her successful case from the first film, must become the face of the agency. Played by Sandra Bullock, Gracie ventures to Las Vegas after people she knew from the beauty pageant get kidnapped. The only lead for the case is that a Dolly Parton impersonator paid off the victims’ driver to give the kidnappers access. Gracie chases a Dolly impersonator and tackles her in front of a crowd. However, it turns out she’s accusing — and straddling — the real Dolly Parton. The scene plays out in a hilarious back-and-forth between Parton and Gracie, until Gracie finally realizes she’s got the wrong lady.

While promoting the film, Bullock discussed the scene with the BBC in a 2005 interview. “It was extraordinary to straddle Dolly Parton. I was literally lying on top of her, and I didn’t feel comfortable with this, but she looked at me and said, ‘We’re going to put the Madonna-Britney kiss to shame!’ And I thought, ‘Wow, you rock. You just rock!’ Really, she was everything you’d want her to be and more.”

The hit Disney series “Hannah Montana” made Miley Cyrus a star, and it also showed the world her close relationship with Dolly Parton. What some fans never knew about Parton is that she was a close friend of the Cyrus family and Miley’s honorary godmother. Inspired by their real relationship, Cyrus asked Parton to come onto the show. Over three different episodes, Parton played a fictionalized version of herself, Aunt Dolly, alongside Miley Stewart, the fictionalized version of Cyrus. In the show, Aunt Dolly is also Miley’s godmother, a character that comes from Nashville and hints at a previous career on stage. At one point, Miley’s grandmother, Mamaw Ruthie Ray Stewart, tells Miley that Aunt Dolly “put the ‘old’ in Grand Ole Opry,” a famous country music hall. Aunt Dolly also has a long-lasting feud with Ruthie (played by Vicki Lawrence) because both women once dated Elvis Presley.

In a 2009 interview with “Good Morning America,” Parton talked about her relationship with Cyrus. Parton said, “Her father’s a friend of mine, and when she was born, he said, ‘You just have to be her godmother,’ and I said, ‘I accept.’ We never did do a big ceremony, but I’m so proud of her, love her, and she’s just like one of my own.” After Parton’s death, Cyrus paid tribute via an X post: “The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share … I have an angel by my side. I always have.” Seeing Cyrus and Parton interact on screen seems like a brief glimpse into the love they really shared. 

The animated movie “Gnomeo & Juliet” may be the last place fans would expect to find Dolly Parton. “Gnomeo & Juliet” featured the voices of James McAvoy and Emily Blunt as the titular characters. As one can determine from the name, the movie is a retelling of the Shakespearean tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.” Only this version is told through the eyes of garden gnomes from feuding neighbors who fall in love.

Dolly Parton voiced Dolly Gnome, essentially a garden gnome version of herself. In the movie, Dolly Gnome’s voice features a country twang, just like Parton. When the garden gnomes race each other on lawnmowers, Dolly Gnome is the one to ensure everything is fair and safe while announcing the event. She might be a little gnome, but she packs a lot of sass. In a clip showing the start of the race, she says, “Y’all know the rules, and I don’t need to repeat them, but I’m gonna, because I wanna,” before listing several things, including no cheating. The cartoon appearance may not be a traditional cameo, but she’s still Parton through and through.

Dolly Parton’s appearance on “The Orville” felt like something written in the stars. In a Season 2 episode of “The Orville” called “Sanctuary,” Dolly Parton’s music becomes a key feature in the science-fiction space series. An alien named Heveena (Rena Owen) must give a speech as to why the females of her species should be allowed to keep their bodily autonomy. After being on the Earth spaceship, Heveena is introduced to Parton, whom she calls the “great Earth poet,” by the ship’s captain, Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane). During her address, Heveena quotes Parton’s famous hit “9 to 5” to describe how she feels. It’s a beautifully touching moment.

Sadly, “The Orville” didn’t get a chance to follow up on that moment for a long time due to production delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Season 2 finale aired in 2019 on Fox, but Season 3 didn’t air until 2022. Season 3, Episode 8 catches up with the current life of Heveena on the all-female colony. She’s broken the rules of an agreement made with her home planet but must decide if one life is worth the benefit of many. To help Heveena with her choice, Ed sets up a meeting between Heveena and Parton. The alien woman finally has a chance to talk to her hero, even if it is a computer-generated version of the singer. Watching the clip after Parton’s death feels especially poignant, as the singer seems to still be helping people after she’s gone, just like in “The Orville.”

Dolly Parton’s final cameo was a little bit different from her other guest spots. Parton appeared in a special segment on the sitcom “Call Me Kat.” After Leslie Jordan died in 2022, the series wrote his character Phill off as moving away to run a bakery in Tahiti with his new spouse. Characters on the show spent much of the episode thinking about Phill and how they will miss having him in their lives as a way to remember the legendary comedian.

During Parton’s spot, she spoke directly to the camera and discussed her friendship with actor Leslie Jordan, who had starred on the series. Parton changed the country music scene, so it felt fitting that when Parton and Jordan met in 2021, they worked together on recording the song “Where the Soul Never Dies” for Jordan’s “Company’s Comin'” album. Although the two didn’t know each other for very long, their friendship was immediate and deep. In her tribute, Parton sang a verse from the song they recorded together and then spoke directly to Jordan: “There is that place on the other side, and I’m certainly going to see you there, little brother.” Parton died of cancer-related complications four years later.